Return of ATM charges

WHEN the Bankers Committee scrapped the inter-bank charges on the use of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in November last year, it came as relief to bank customers accustomed to paying all kinds of sundry transaction charges. However, they may have rejoiced too soon with last week’s dramatic re-entry of Card Maintenance Fee courtesy of First Bank, barely three months after. A terse notice from the bank last week informed the customers that effective March, N100 will be charged for all cash withdrawals for the month.

The notice came with the usual bland statement that this was to enable the bank serve the customer better. As a matter of fact, First Bank is not alone in this, a few other banks have slammed similar charges on their ATM services.

Is the issue about service? It’s hard to accept. The issue is – First Bank, for instance, considers the maintenance service of N100 per month a paltry amount to pay by their customers for using the ATM service. It could well have denied the cash haul from the hundreds of thousands of customers involved.

Of course, the measure revives the old argument as to who benefits more from ATM services. The conventional position is to see the ATM as affording the customer the convenience of easy access to his cash. That is no doubt true. What is no less true however is that it saves the banks the direct multiples of man-hours (and the associated costs) spent in attending to their hordes of individual customers. Given that service costs are by their nature non-discriminatory in terms of whether the customer is a small or big account holder, and to the extent that the banks cannot legitimately deny their impact on their costs and hence their bottom-line, it is only reasonable to expect that the man-hour cost saved through the use of ATM would set off the so-called costs of maintenance.

We suspect that this consideration may have informed the scrapping of the charges by the Bankers Committee in November. Now, if the scrapping of the charge was agreeable to the bankers club three months ago, when did it suddenly become disagreeable, and why at this time? What is the meaning of card maintenance charge when the cost of the cards is charged the customer at points of issue? What is there to maintain in the plastic device that any bank would seek to rake in fortunes in unearned cash for merely keeping it, even when not in use?

This newspaper is at a loss to understand the re-emergence of the charges except that the banks believe that it is in their power to do as they like. If there are other reasons behind the measure, Nigerians are entitled to know. At the moment, this has not been satisfactorily explained.

We equally deplore the idea of introducing the charges through the back door. Not only does it go against the grain of the agreement by the Bankers Committee, it has the great potential to spawn other spurious charges by the banks.

Just as there are countless other sources that banks can make money from, we expect our banks to explore more creative ways to make money. In doing this, we expect them to spare the ordinary folk of spurious charges on their hard-earned deposits. After all, the industry cannot claim to be promoting a cashless society on one hand, while pursuing measures that are clear disincentives to its stated goal on the other.

We expect all the banks that are jettisoning the agreement reached at the Bankers Committee meeting about three months ago to withdraw the charges. Otherwise, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should call them to order.

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Just when we thought we have gotten rid of the Akingbolas, the Atuches,the Ibrus et al. The rogues are back in the Banks. This N100 atm service charge monthly will rake in an average of N200 million for each bank annually. Leaches & Bleaches!

Olabode Felix Oladele

I was take aback when my enterprise bank sent such alert to me that they’ve debited #200 from my account for ATM maintenance.

Like i said last week on ATM charges re-introdused last week by First Bank,the embarrasing aspect is that it was ONASANYA-FIRST BANK MD who announced the abolishing of the ATM charge on behalf
of the Banker’s Committe in Nov.The CBN should pls call them 2 order.

onisuru mike a

Pls bankers nigeria belong to all of us just forget ATM metter for now less look for other way to stop another corruption pls

Kelechi

To say the least, the reintroduction of the ATM charges by banks can only be said to be scandalous. I wonder how the banks can justify the reintroduction. If the feel it is necessary, then they should allow customers the choice of whether to use the cards or not. They insist you must use the cards and then turn around to bill you for using something that obviously reduces the man hours and cost of operation that they would have incurred by attending to customers in the banking hall. This is not considering the security challenges that crowded banking halls poss to the banks.

However, I blame CBN for this. The are the regulators who should be the voice of the poor masses of this country who the banks are robbing in the name of various charges they impose at will. I just wonder whether the CBN is not aware of this things.

Again instead of the banks evolving real banking operations that will be profitable to them, all they do is to sit down and collect all sorts of charges from customers. At the end of the day the come back and tell us of the shameful percentages of Nigerians that are “unbanked”. How do they think they will ever convince such people to put their monies in the banks when they know how much they will lose from banking? I think that First Bank of all banks leading in this unholy act is not only shameful, it is indeed very disgusting.

Eco bank is even charging it’s customers 200 for monthly ATM maintenance. A school boy was yesterday at eco bank querying deduction on his acct, which left his balance almost empty but the cso checked his account and tell him that ATM maintenance fee of 200 was running on his account for the past 5 months explaining further the lady cso said that maybe the system was not charging him before but may have debited the account for the period it failed to charged automatically. The implication of this is that one could leave a savings in the bank only to come back and see all the money gone on ATM charges isn’t this sic?

dayo

D lesson learnt here, of cos it has been learnt over & over is dat anytin goes in nigeria. Evry individual, evry group of ppl, evry family etc are their own govt who can do & undo at anytime without any question frm anywhere. Our leaders are so weak, wicked & selfish dat they cant get d simplest tin fixed as putin d round peg in d round hole for d betterment of d masses except for their imediate family & ppl close to them

Oduna Austine

That might a new development to some but i hv been at the mercy my ecobank’s 200 monthly charfes for as long as I can remember.the truth is that Nigeria n banks decide most times how to relate with their customer.we are enslaved by these banks.the regulator has to sanction them heavily for insubordination

Oduna Austine

That might be a new development to some but i hv been at the mercy of my ecobank’s 200 monthly charges for as long as I can remember.the truth is that Nigerian banks decide most times how to relate with their customer.we are enslaved by these banks.the regulator has to sanction them heavily for insubordination

Cyril Enis tonari

Why is it so hard for Nigerians to see and do things in their proper ways?
The COST VARIABLES of ATM maintenance and personnel overtime cost added to
Energy cost inputs, if well multiplied far out-cost all other factors involved.
How do we expect banks to purchase,install,operate and service ATM machines in all
their branches with no service charges at all?This sanusi equation does’nt add up at all.
Maybe, we’ll have to convert all our banks into philanthropic orgs.
Thank God ,Banks don’t WORK ON SUNDAYS. On such days, we would all need SANUSI-
FOMULAR to get CASH.

Ayo

u are not saying the right thing. How can this encourage saving. Honestly I don’t know

Kingsley

Wait this means that u are charging your customers for taking their money? Well done i dont need to debate this rubbish cos its very annoying i will just have to change my bank Nonsense!

Owolabi lawrence

Why cant they maintain the machines from the huge profit they make from our money. Else they should give us the chance to withdraw using our slip

Osas KC

This is a wicked act

Oshipeter

CBN please stop them from ripping us off. We do not all need ATM and cashless economy when there is no Electricity to power it.